Who is the biggest pooper?

[Oxboy]

I have a 55 gal with:

• six 4-5" discus
• one 3" BN pleco
• twelve cardinal tetras
• two serbai corys

Everybody is healthy and happy. I do a couple of 40-50% WCs a week. I have a thin sand bottom. I feed on the light side -- once in the morning and once at night. I have almost no algae so I give the pleco a sinking wafer every night.

Here is the thing: I could vacuum that thing spotless and in 12 hours, it looks like a cesspool on the bottom. The attached pic does not do it justice. I notice that the discus poop out a plug about 1/4" in diameter. The poop gathering on the bottom looks finer than that.

So I'm wondering - in your experience, do the tetras poop a ton? I know plecos can poop a lot so is this mostly the BN and/or corys? Is it everybody contributing?

Do those of you with discus-only tanks and moderate feeding schedules find that discus alone are excessive poopers?

Curious about your thoughts.

[BrendanJ23]

The BN are the pooing machines. That’s why I got rid of them from my tank, I grew tired of the masses of poo. There is enough just from the discus!

[bluelagoon]

I only have poop like that in tanks with the "pooping machines". The other tanks are much cleaner. One can make a lot of poop.

[gunnerschh2]

It could be some left over wafer in that mess also. Try a half wafer & see if that makes a difference also the pleco will eat other left over food.

[Willie]

To placate my wife, I painted all the sides - except the front - of my barebottom tanks a light blue. Man, does that make the poop really "pop"!

Willie

[Disgirl]

I see wood in your pic. I find that all plecos eat wood as part of their diet. I bet what you are seeing on the sand is a whole lot of wood he ate and pooped out. Had that happen with one of my plecos, the wood got smaller and smaller as he ate it away.

[ccc]

Herbivores poop more!

[RogueDiscus]

And that goes for fish too More fiber!

[pastry]

My vote for best title of the month!

[peewee1]

Herbivores poop more!

The elephant would be king in that regard. Or Hump Back Whale, an endangered species, who don' t give a hump where they take a dump because the ocean dissolves their feces.